Milos Zeman, 73, veteran of the left, accused of seeking to divide society with his pro-Russian, pro-China positions and his provocative speech, was re-elected this Saturday for a second term as president of the Czech Republic.

“This is my last political victory, there will not be a defeat since the Constitution does not allow the president more than two terms of five years,” he said cheered by his supporters after his re-election.

President of a member country of NATO since 1999 and of the European Union since 2004, Milos Zeman does not hide his sympathies with Russia and with China.

“Russia does not represent a security risk,” he said in a televised debate.

In May 2015, he participated in ceremonies in Moscow for the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany boycotted by most Western leaders.

In September of that same year, he became the only European head of state present in Beijing at the military parade commemorating the surrender of Japan.

Without hesitation, he often describes his opponents as “idiots”, he described journalists as “unfortunate” with some pleasure, and even during a trip to China, in the presence of Vladimir Putin, he did not hesitate to say that they should be “liquidated”.

Ⓒ AFP – RADEK MICA – | Milos Zeman, 73, re-elected to the presidency of the Czech Republic, in the celebrations for his victory on Saturday, January 27, 2018 in a hotel in Prague

He continues to assure that “the intelligence of journalists as well as that of some politicians is noticeably lower than that of ordinary citizens.”

In tune with a good part of the Czech public, he described the influx of migrants in Europe as an “organized invasion” and said he was opposed to welcoming them, believing that this could be “a cultural breeding ground for terrorist attacks” .

– ‘Kiss the trees’ –

Born on September 28, 1944 in Kolin, near Prague, this economist already had to talk about before the fall of the totalitarian regime in 1989 by launching harsh criticisms of the communist economy.

After the “Velvet Revolution” (1989), he forms with Vaclav Havel and Vaclav Klaus, his predecessors in the presidency, the trio that most marked the progress in this country.

Zeman was briefly a member of the communist party in the late 1960s, and after 1989 he revived the Social Democratic Party, before being the head of the Lower House of Parliament (1996-1998) and prime minister (1998-2002).

At that time he was already known for his controversial statements, for example, when comparing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat with Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.

In 2002, he retired to a peaceful town far from the big city, to “kiss the trees” but never stop moving the threads of power behind the scenes.

He left his retirement for a short time in 2003 to seek the presidency without success, returned to politics in 2010, directing the new Citizens Rights Party.

In January 2013, he wins his first presidential term in a direct universal election, against right-wing candidate Karel Schwarzenberg.

– ‘Drunk’ or ‘viral’? –

Ⓒ AFP – RADEK MICA – | The wife of the re-elected Milos Zeman in the Czech presidency, Ivana (right), and her daughter, Katerina, participated in the celebrations after the announcement of the victory this Saturday, January 27, 2018 in a Prague hotel

Milos Zeman, father of two children, is married in second marriages with his former secretary Ivana, 20 years younger than him, lover of arms and his main militant.

A self-confessed smoker, Zeman tells his doctors that he consumes “six glasses of wine and three glasses of spirits” every day. He also admits his taste for beer and strong spirits, such as “slivovice”, made from a Czech plum.

His sometimes absent-minded face continues to sow questions about the state of health of this man who walks with a cane, and who suffers from diabetic neuropathy and hearing problems, according to his doctors.